Managed futures slipped again in April down 0.51%, according to the Barclay CTA Index compiled by BarclayHedge. Year-to-date, the index is down 2.34%.
Six of Barclay’s eight managed futures indices lost ground in April. Diversified traders dropped 1.24%, systemic traders fell 1.09%, and financial and metals traders were down 0.64%. Discretionary traders did manage a 0.33% gain in April, and agricultural traders were up 0.21%.
The Barclay BTOP50 Index, which monitors performance of the largest traders, lost 1.45% in April, and is down 3.21% in 2009.
Directionless markets and conflicting trends made it difficult for CTAs to extract profits from trading positions in April, says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge. While the currencies of several of the main commodity exporting nations continued to gain in value, commodity prices overall were mixed to slightly down.
L.D.